Car Hits Walkers on Route 160, Injures Several
KAYENTA, Ariz. – Wind whipped through the air, carrying screams into the Colorado Plateau. Dust clouded the air as a car skidded to a halt and a trail of people scattered across the road in its wake.
That's how Howard Bannister finished describing the scene of the crash as tears pooled in his eyes.
A brown 2013 Chevy Malibu swerved into a group of forty walkers on the shoulder of U.S. Route 160 Wednesday afternoon, 15 miles east of Kayenta. Fourteen walkers were hit, and six remain in critical condition, Dr. Mina Okafor said during a press conference.
The crash occurred when two members of the walking group crossed the road to take a photo without checking for incoming cars. The driver, a 42-year-old resident of the Hopi Indian Reservation, swerved to avoid the two walkers. The driver’s car lost traction when it hit a stretch of dirt on the side of the road, causing it to swerve into the group of walkers, Police Chief Roy Neary said.
“I just watched them run across the road without looking,” Bannister, a witness of the crash said. “The next thing I knew, bodies are flying like Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls, people were screaming.”
Paramedics took injured walkers to the Kayenta Health Clinic, though helicopters airlifted more critical patients to larger hospitals in Phoenix and Albuquerque. Most injuries suffered from the crash included broken arms, legs, and ribs, Dr. Okafor said.
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"We talked to a few folks, but they were mostly in shock," Hoke Colburn, a hired driver who stopped to assist injured walkers, said. "One said a car just ran into them. She had no idea why someone would do a thing like that."
The group was walking to raise awareness for Adams-Oliver Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes the malformation of limbs. They were walking along Route 160, which is one of the only east-west bound roads in the area. While Route 160 is a highway, it has wide shoulders that tourists and bicyclists often use.
“This is a popular road with walkers and bicyclists who visit Monument Valley or the Grand Canyon because of the low frequency of motor vehicles,” Volunteer Fire Chief Randolph Mantooth said. “People have to remain aware that vehicles – and I should say high-speed vehicles do use this road.”
Route 160 is a single-lane highway that serves as an interstate route through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri. The speed limit is 75 mph, though the driver was travelling at 65 mph when the crash occurred, Neary said.
“You only see a car every 15 minutes,” Neary said. “At night, you sometimes won’t see them for maybe an hour. It can give people a false sense of security.”
Police closed Route 160 between Kayenta and Dennehotso until first responders cleared the site and investigators examined the area.